European Elections

The European Parliament is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union. The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by citizens of the EU Member States every five years. The next European elections will be held in 2019.

Each Member State conducts the elections in accordance with its national legislation.

The maximum number of Members of the European Parliament is 751. A maximum of 96 and a minimum of six MEPs are elected in each Member State.

The number of MEPs to be elected in Finland in the 2019 elections is either 14 or 13, depending on whether the United Kingdom will still be a Member State when the European Parliament’s term begins (= in the beginning of July). In the previous European elections, MEPs were elected in Finland as follows: 16 MEPs in 1996 and 1999, 14 MEPs in 2004, and 13 MEPs in 2009 and 2014.

Table showing the current distribution of seats in the European Parliament and the new distribution of seats after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The Members of the European Parliament sit in political groups. These are organised by political affiliation and not by nationality. A political group needs a minimum of 25 MEPs who represent at least seven Member States.